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Brachistochrone

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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(from the Gr. 1 3p6xcv-ros, shortest, and Xpovos, time), a term invented by John Bernoulli in 1694 to denote the curve along which a body passes from one fixed point to another in the shortest time. When the directive force is constant, the curve is a cycloid; under other conditions, spirals and other curves are described (see Mechanics) .